So another year has ended and what a year it has been. As I scan my mind back across the months, it all seems a bit of a haze but so many great things have happened this year.

• Renovation of upstairs was finished (mostly done 2020)
• My son, Noah was born
• I set up my online theme store
• Moved into my own office

2021 seems a bit of a blur to me really. It has been none stop crazy with the house being upside down from the renovation of upstairs and getting it all ready for the birth of Noah, to being inundated with work and navigating all the nonsense of the restrictions in place during the “Coronavirus Pandemic”.

The back end of 2020 was a tough time, especially as my other half was dealing with being pregnant and I wanted to get the house ready for the arrival of our son. This meant new windows, new carpets, new built in wardrobes, new bathroom, everything. There was a period before Christmas 2020 that we weren’t quite sure if we’d have carpet upstairs and have to spend the festivities walking around on bare floor boards. We did manage to get the carpets down, apart from in the nursery, before Christmas so we had a few weeks of rest and relaxation but the work soon has to start again as we hadn’t started on the nursery yet!

Getting the nursery ready for Noah was a big priority, especially as my other half was panicking that things wouldn’t be ready in time, but I knew they would be. It was all hands on deck getting the room plastered, a new custom made wardrobe fitted and then painted ready for the carpet to be laid and then the building of all the furniture could begin. Changing table and new cot had to be built, which is always fun. Even more fun with a lady 8 months pregnant, but hey it was all done in time and looking marvellous for when Noah was born.

May 2021 was when my life really changed. No amount of preparation will every prepare you for standing with your partner during labour and seeing your being born and holding him for the first time. It was a short labour but due to a small infection, mother and baby had to stay in for a week, but after going home from the hospital after both were safe in a room, I don’t think I’ve very cried so much in my life. Wow it was an emotional experience!

Soon after Noah was born I realised I had to protect his future by building a stream of business that would not only allow me to live financially secure, but also allow me to spend more time at home with my family and watching Noah grow up. This is when I started building my new website and theme store so I could sell pre-made website themes. I’d always wanted to do this, but for some reason I’d always procrastinated.

Now was the right time to get the foundation right and get to work on it while I had a few week off after my sons birth. In summary, I launched my new website with 2 themes and also added them onto a theme marketplace where they started to sell. This showed me it was the best decision I’d made to be able to start earning an income without doing any further work once the themes had been made. It wasn’t until next year, 2022 that I’d sold my 50th theme online, but more on that in next years summary.

This has been the year of Coronavirus and all the nonsense that went with it from lockdowns, face masks, vaccine mandates to not being allowed to go abroad, meet other people of generally have a social life.

Even now, (Jan 2022), things haven’t fully returned to normal. Working form home was the big thing that was imposed, and to be honest at the start of the pandemic it was what was needed after the previous years of building up my company. A bit of familiarity, home comforts and a chance to unwind.

Little did I know that my workload had continued to go through the roof with everyone wanting websites and ensuring their business could be found online. Not a bad position to be in, but after nearly 18 months of working form home, it was getting a but too much. Seeing the same 4 walls morning, noon and night, not getting to socialise with anyone and generally it felt like I was living a single work and personal life, it all blended into 1. It was time to get out of the house and back to the office, or co-working space I was working from at theme. But that brought about another problem. I wanted privacy and time for myself where I could really switch off.

No sooner had a started to look, an office came available at the same place I had a co-working desk so I instantly snapped it up. It’s still a work in progress as I need to get a few things set up to make it truly mine, but it allows me to get away from everything and just be me. It also allowed me to have a dedicated workspace where I can get my work done and not be disturbed. I say that, but my phone doesn’t stop bloody ringing! Sometimes you can’t win.